Area Man Honored For Work With Haiti's Poor

In 1981, Norwich orthodontist Jeremiah J. Lowney was part of a group that traveled to Haiti to help the poor. It was a temporary assignment - Lowney was to offer dental care. But holding an orphan in his arms, helpless while she died, changed his life.

The following year, Lowney founded the Haitian Health Foundation, which provides health care to Haiti 's poor, especially children and pregnant women. His goal at first was to provide health care to people near the capital city of Port au Prince, but a conversation in 1985 with Mother Teresa led him to Jeremie, where the main clinic, a fully equipped 27,000-square-foot outpatient clinic, is located. A nutritional rehabilitation facility helps malnourished children, and expectant mothers can stay at a maternal waiting home, where they receive health care during the final months of their pregnancy. In total, the Haitian Health Foundation treats more than 200,000 poor Haitians in 104 rural and remote mountain villages.

Lowney returns every three months to personally care for children and families. His trips have become legendary throughout the Norwich area, and now his work has received notice from the World of Children, which recognizes people who make a difference in the lives of children across the globe.

The World of Children foundation has presented Lowney with $10,000. He has already put the money to use during his most recent trip to Haiti , said spokeswoman Jennifer Weldon. The award can be described as the Nobel Prize for child advocacy, she said.

Haiti is among the poorest nations in the Western Hemisphere, and political unrest makes it unstable. Working in and against such obstacles takes a monumental effort. Lowney is one in a million.

If you'd like to help, you can send contributions to the Haitian Health Foundation to 97 Sherman St., Norwich, CT 06360.

http://www.courant.com/news/local/sr/hc-1talk0622.artjun22,0,5125894,print.story

For more information about the World of Children foundation or to book an interview with Jeremiah Lowney, please contact: Roger L. Resnicoff/ Manning Selvage, and Lee @ 212/468-3616 or roger.resnicoff@mslpr.com